


Wild Honey

by e_p_hart



Series: Nuvo Greek [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greece & Rome, Alternate Universe - Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-15 12:23:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1304770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_p_hart/pseuds/e_p_hart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She sits there in the boat, reclines on the pillows, more temptation than anyone should have to resist, her skin pale and perfect, her hair waves that softly caress the bare skin of her shoulders...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wild Honey

He does not understand.  
  
He sees her sorrow-- she is his friend, why won’t she let him make her happy?  
  
It began about four years back, he thinks, when her father achieved his own Happiness. She mourned for weeks and weeks, and would not be thankful, could not see that it was all for the best--  
  
It was.  
  
Wasn’t it?  
  
“Do not doubt yourself,” Memphis tell him. “You alone know how you feel. I just monitor your progress, try to guide you in the right directions. Trust yourself: you know you want Happiness, you know you must search for it. That is your purpose. You know this.”  
  
She always knows exactly what to say to make him feel better.  
  
That promise--  
  
It sustains him.  
  


* * *

   
  
When he hears about them, about Kore and Jason, he very nearly decides to end it, before--  
  
Before.  
  
He asks her, and the sorrow and understanding on her face...  
  
Kore has, and always will, be his friend.  
  
He tells Memphis his frustration, his same questions, his by now well-known desires, the same paths trodden over and over.  
  
“I have spoken to her Guide about this,” Memphis says, smacking her lips. “I think you should try for her. She hides it well, but she does love you as you love her.”  
  
Joy, this is elation, this fizzy feeling that threatens to lift him from the earth.  
  
“Ah,” Memphis says. She is reading something on her tablet, glances up at him. “I see I was correct-- in this as well. Laertes, if you can get Kore, you will achieved your Happiness.” She smiles. “I am so proud of you.”  
  
Laertes is-- excited, glad.  
  
He is--  
  
This news has changed him. Now everything is brighter, the sky more blue, the birds sing only for his ears. He feels-- part of everything, and nothing. His brothers are too loud, too raucous, too alive. He should-- let them know, tell them this knowledge, about himself.  
  
They would not understand.  
  
That is his fear.  
  


* * *

  
  
He gathers a bouquet of flowers that cannot possibly hope to compare to her beauty.  
  
He readies the boat, makes certain it is cleaned and full of comfortable pillows and fuel for a long trip.  
  
Everything is perfect.  


* * *

  
  
“Thank you, Laertes.” Pause. “They are very beautiful.”  
  
No, you are beautiful, he wants to say, feels like he might burst if the words cannot be set free. “I-- would you care to come with me after school? We have not spent much time together since-- your mother.” Chokes out.  
  
“Of course. You know you don’t have to bribe me.”  
  
A bribe-- “I like to give you gifts.” I want to make you _Happy._ Let me make you happy, Kore.  
  
A muscle twitches on her cheek, and she almost says something else.  
  
But she does not.  
  


* * *

  
  
She sits there in the boat, reclines on the pillows, more temptation than anyone should have to resist, her skin pale and perfect, her hair waves that softly caress the bare skin of her shoulders...  
  
He rips his eyes away. “So will you tell me why?”  
  
“Why what?”  
  
“Why Jason, Kore. I thought you told me everything. You never--” He glances at her little hum. “Well, you didn’t tell me.”  
  
“It-- wasn’t my choice, Laertes. Believe me. If I could have had it any other way--”  
  
Did she-- yes. Yes.  
  
“Would it have been me, Kore? Ever?” He studies the inside of the boat, not wanting her to see his hope, his--  
  
“Laertes--” She doesn’t finish it.  
  
And then, on the other hand... Perhaps he was wrong after all. “I will take you back to shore.”  
  
 _“Laertes._ Please, let me explain. Please, I--”  
  
He shakes his head. She is his friend; that is all she considers herself. She will not sacrifice this little part, just this much... “I don’t want to hear it, Kore. Did you know, that I would have considered myself Happy if you had come to me?”  
  
She reaches out to him, as though to stem the tide of his emotion. “Laertes,” she gasps, “please. Don’t...”  
  
He takes. “Kore.” Cradle her hand between his own.  
  
“Don’t--”  
  
Try-- try this. Just-- try. “I want to be Happy.”  
  
She is in his arms, and she tastes of wind and water and laughter, and-- this is what he has wanted. This is all he has ever dreamed.  
  
He--  
  
\--takes--  
  


* * *

   
  
They meet the boat at the docks. Kore is crying; she tries to hold on to his hand. Why does she try to stop him?  
  
Laertes wants to go.  
  
He--  
  
\--goes--

**Author's Note:**

> Eah. "Trees and Inviolate Peace." But from Laertes' POV. Title by me. Mistakes, point 'em out.


End file.
